'He looks either drunk, high or something,' 911 caller says about OPD officer

January 22, 2014|By Tiffany Walden, Orlando Sentinel

An intoxicated off-duty Orlando Police officer went on a rant Sunday when Oviedo authorities arrested him for DUI after they found an open bottle of peach vodka in the passenger seat of his SUV, a report today shows.

A 911 caller told authorities Sean Matthew Gilhuly appeared "inebriated" as he sat through two green lights on W. Mitchell Hammock Road and State Road 434.

"He's not passed out, but he does not look fit to drive," a passerby told dispatchers in the 911 call. "He looks either drunk, high or something. I have no idea."

Police say Gilhuly, 30, repeatedly yelled, "Don't (expletive) me over bro," as they tried to transport him to the Seminole County jail for a blood-alcohol breath test, which he later refused to take, an arrest report stated.

He then had to be restrained in a special suit after he kicked out the back passenger window of the officer's patrol car in a combative rage against the arrest, the report said.

His Orlando Police supervisor told officers that Gilhuly had been undergoing personal issues lately, according to the report.

Gilhuly, a patrol officer, is on paid leave pending the results of an internal investigation, Orlando Police Sgt. Jim Young said.

He faces charges of driving under the influence and criminal mischief. He also received two traffic citations, Young said.

Oviedo Police said a passerby called them around 5 p.m. Sunday to report a man who had sat through two green traffic lights on eastbound W. Mitchell Hammock Road at State Road 434.

Police arrived, and found Gilhuly inside a white Ford Explorer in the left, eastbound lane. In the police report, officers stated that Gilhuly was creating a safety hazard amid a busy traffic intersection.

Officers then took a look inside Gilhuly's car and saw an open bottle of Peach Ciroc liquor in his passenger seat, according to the report.

They also found a Florida concealed-weapon permit and a handgun inside the SUV.

"(Gilhuly) told me he was a police officer with Orlando Police Department," the Oviedo officer said in the report. "I asked him where his credentials were. He was unable to answer my question."

The officers then moved Gilhuly and his car out of the busy intersection to the Jim's World of Wheels parking lot on S. Central Avenue, where they continued their DUI investigation.

Gilhuly told officers he had not been drinking and refused to perform a field-sobriety test, the report said.

He was arrested and officers called his Orlando Police supervisor to the scene. Gilhuly requested that officers hand over his SUV to the supervisor.

"Prior to my leaving, his supervisor spoke with me, and informed me (Gilhuly) was currently undergoing personal issues," the officer said in the report.

Gilhuly began yelling expletives and grew increasingly angry while he was being taken to the jail, officers said.

Because of Gilhuly's "apparent extreme intoxication and his extremely elevated vital signs," officers had to take him to a hospital to be "medically cleared" before being booked into jail, a report said.

That's when Gilhuly kicked out the patrol car's passenger-side window, forcing officers to place him in a "total limb restraint," the report stated.

At the hospital, nurses had to give Gilhuly medication to calm him down in order to treat him, according to the report.

He eventually was medically cleared and taken back to Seminole County Jail, where he refused to take a breath test.